A Brighter Tomorrow: My Journey with Julie

I look Stinger in the eye and tell him that a superstar like Julie doesn’t need an old basketball court to show what she’s made of. Julie lifts her chin and looks down her nose at Stinger’s scowl. In fact, Julie has a better idea. She picks up the ball from the sideline and tosses it over the heads of T.J. and Stinger, then races and grabs it, and dribbles down the sidewalk heading in the direction of Gladrags. We all tear off after her.

I ask Julie where she’s going, and she whispers to the secret steps. I know there are a lot of stairs in hilly San Francisco, and some of them are right on the sidewalk, but I don’t know if any of them are a secret. We run the entire way, and after a few blocks, Julie stops and gestures to a leafy grove. Panting, we step in and peer down a long flight of steep steps that are practically hidden in the canopy of green leaves. The view from the top is amazing. There are lush trees and flowering vines lining both sides of the steps, like a scene out of The Secret Garden. Among the trees are small cottages whose front yards face the steps.

Stinger asks why we’re here. Julie says we’re going to do a speed dribble relay. Stinger and T.J. versus the girls. You have to bounce the ball on each step, down the stairs and back up, and tag your teammate. The first team that finishes both rounds wins.

T.J. and I look at each other hesitantly. The steps seem to go on for blocks. Stinger says that we should get ready to be creamed. He and Julie ready themselves at the top of the step and grip the railings.

I count them off and they start down the stairs. Julie grabs the lead, but Stinger catches up to her at the first landing. He sneers at Julie and dribbles wider, giving her less room to maneuver the ball. Then, he dribbles too wide, and their basketballs collide before careening down the steps. Julie and Stinger take off after them. T.J. and I are quick to follow. We watch helplessly as the balls gain speed with every bounce. Finally, they collide one last time and each ball flies in a different direction. Then we hear the crash of glass shattering and clinking upon the pavement.

Stingers snatches up one of the balls, which landed in a small courtyard. Julie stands very still in front of a small red and white cottage, her eyes glued to the broken window. The other ball is gone. It’s inside of the house. Dogs are barking wildly from within the house, and then we hear a man’s voice shout.

Stinger tells us all to run. He tucks the basketball under his arm and leaps up the stairs. T.J. bites his lip and looks at us. Without thinking, the rest of us run up the stairs after Stinger. As soon as the boys disappear over the top of the steps, we hear a door slam and the dogs barking gets louder. Julie pulls me off the steps into some bushes as we try to decide what to do. We peek through the leaves and see an elderly man walk out onto the steps, his dogs jumping up around him and barking. He’s holding the basketball.

Julie asks me if we should go back. I hesitate. Why should we go down there without Stinger and T.J.? I whisper that Stinger should be the one taking the blame. It’s his fault. If he hadn’t dribbled into Julie’s space, this wouldn’t have happened. Julie looks at me with sad eyes. This also wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t dragged us to the secret steps. I point out it just doesn’t seem fair to surrender without the boys. We could go down and tell the man what happened, but he might not believe our story of the boys aren’t here to back us up. Julie lowers her eyes in disappointment and says that it feels wrong to leave the scene of the crime. And if we go look for the boys, we might not even find them. And even if we did find them, we might not be able to convince them to come back and share the blame.